The Message, July 9, 2023: "A Light Burden," Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
July 11, 2023

 

“A Light Burden”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

            “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt.11:28-30)

            Those words sound really nice, do they not? Those words speak to how many of us are feeling now-a-days.

            Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. My guess is that there are many of us … perhaps ALL of us … that feel as though we have the weight of the world upon our shoulders.

            We carry the worry about our children or grandchildren.
            We carry the worry about our parents, our grandparents, or our siblings.
            We carry the worry about our finances …
            We carry the worry about the political tensions in our country …
            We carry the worry about gun violence …
            We carry the worry about climate change …
            We carry our concern over the health and safety of our neighbors …

            “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy burdened.” Here we come, Jesus! ALL of us!! Because you will give us … rest. Rest … sweet, glorious rest. Can you imagine?!

            Yes … we can imagine … and hope.

            But first, let us back up. Jesus began this passage addressing some of what it is that makes us weary. He addresses the source of some of our burdens.

            “Consider this generation.” In those three words, he referred to the people that were living in that day nearly two thousand years ago, and he is also speaking about the people of today.

            “Look at them! They are like spoiled children sitting in the marketplace! They do not like anything! We played a happy song, but they did not dance. We played a sad song, but they did not like that either. They say, ‘We do not want that!! And we do not want that either!!’”

            The people criticized John the Baptist when he came preaching his message of repentance. They called him a mad man … a wild man. He was an ascetic. He lived in the wilderness and did not enjoy the pleasures that society offered. They called him a demon!

            And then the same people criticized Jesus. Jesus came sharing another new vision. He came sharing a message of hope … God’s vision for the new Kin-dom. He lived in and among the people. He socialized with them, broke bread with them, laughed and cried with them. The people resorted to name-calling. ‘He is a glutton, a drunkard! A friend of the most undesirable among us!’

            Like spoiled, petulant children … the people of that generation rejected BOTH of them. “We don’t like that!”

            But then in the same passage, Jesus lifts up the blessing of little children. “I praise you, O God, that you did not show your vision to these wise and learned ones, but rather to the little children.”

            Last week, I touched upon the multiple meanings of the phrase, ‘little children’ in scripture. It can mean exactly what it says … young people … children. It can also mean beginners in the faith, recent converts, or simply humble, ordinary Christians. In this particular verse, Jesus is combining the meanings.

            He refers to himself as the Child of God when he asks the rhetorical question, “Who knows the Father … the Parent … better than the child?” There is no one more qualified to share God’s vision for the world than the Son of God himself! The people may mock him and reject him, they may deride him and call him names, but they cannot, and do not, speak for God in the same way, with the same authority with which Jesus speaks for God.

            Then Jesus uses the other meaning of ‘little children’ when we thanks and praises God for sharing the vision with them. “Thank you, God, for sharing your vision with those who are eager to see. Thank you, God, for sharing your vision with those who are WILLING to see.”

            Jesus’ criticism of the “wise and the learned” was not an attack on intellectualism. Rather, it was an attack on pride. It was an attack on arrogance that often accompanies certainty.

            It is the humble person that is willing to admit when they are weary.
            It is the humble person that admits that they are weak.
            It is the humble person that recognizes that they still have much to learn.
            It is the humble person that realizes that growth means change.
            It is the humble person that can admit that they might possibly be wrong.

            And Jesus knew that the ‘little children’ were being forced to carry a yoke that was far too heavy.

            The rabbis spoke of the “Yoke of Torah,” and Jesus knew that the burden of Torah was heavy. He knew that it was breaking the backs and the spirits of those who tried to follow, and then were condemned because they had failed. They were condemned by the leaders of the faith, and then by their neighbors, and then ultimately, they condemned themselves. They were worn and weary. They were broken.

            The Yoke of Torah had endless rules, “Thou shalt not …” Then, on top of all of those rules and prohibitions, there were volumes of interpretation by any number of rabbis. Not only did the people of that day have to carry the yoke of Torah, they also had to carry the weight of the rabbis’ interpretation of Torah. That was a heavy burden.

            But Jesus said, “my burden is light. My yoke is easy.” The yoke of Jesus has one rule … “Thou shall … love.”

            The word for “easy” in Greek means “well-fitting.” The yoke that is easy fits well. It does not rub or chafe. It does not cause pain or injury.

            The yoke of Jesus is easy.

            The title of this message is “A Light Burden.” I do need to qualify that title. It is not that the burden that Jesus places upon us is light necessarily, but it is laid upon us in love. The “burden” that Jesus calls us to carry is meant to be carried in love. For in the Kin-dom of Heaven love makes even the heaviest burdens light.

            The “yoke” of Jesus does not imply a life of ease, but rather a deliverance from the artificial burdens that some people in organized religion try to place upon us.

            “Consider this generation.” There are those same words again. We can consider those people within the “faith” … those people in church leadership … that are akin to those who Jesus criticized. And then there is the vast majority of the “unchurched” out there that do not condemn Jesus, per se, but rather the ways that the “church” … the institutional church … fails to follow the Way of Jesus. We hear their condemnation, and we AGREE with it.

            We share God’s vision for the world. We dream of a kin-dom based upon loving kindness and compassion. We dream of a community built upon the foundation of unity and harmony. And because we share God’s vision for our world, we will continue to strive. We will continue to live as Jesus calls us to live.

            Certainly, the thought of the task before us may make us weary. It is a long road. But we are willing because we know that the yoke is easy. We know that the burden that is placed upon us is placed in love, and we will carry it in love.

            That is our “rest”. Our rest is the wonderful peace that we experience in the freedom and salvation of God’s Kin-dom. Our “rest” is the peace that we experience when we work and serve in the Way of Love.

            “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Amen.

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